Trip back to 'Trains'

Louis R. Carlozo, Tribune reporterCHICAGO TRIBUNE

When British psychedelic-pop wizard Robyn Hitchcock hits the stage Saturday at the Old Town School of Folk Music, he'll take fans back -- all the way back -- to one of his earliest solo efforts, 1984's "I Often Dream of Trains" (just re-released on Yep Roc Records). Spare but not sparse, "Trains" sparkles as a surrealistic emerald with facets that range from silly (the a cappella neurosis primer "Uncorrected Personality Traits") to scintillating (the jangling "This Could Be the Day").

Kicking back in Merrie Olde England, Hitchcock paused to chat by phone about revisiting the watershed album a quarter-century later.

Q. What was it like to study "Trains" close-up in preparing for live shows?

A. First off, it sounds fast. When I listened to it a year or so ago to get it remastered, it sounded like a punk record. And the vocal attitude seemed quite nasal and aggressive; I always thought of it as dreamy.

Q. Why do you think "Trains" has stood up?

A. It's possibly because my songs are written to individuals as opposed to a crowd, and written from my point of view as opposed to the point of view of Everyman. "Trains" is very much set in the home counties around London, a place that is not majestic at all. They were tentacles on the London octopus.

Q. There's a Beatles-esque quality to this material, a la John Lennon's "What's the New Mary Jane" from "Anthology 3." Does that seem like a fair comparison?

A. If you want, you could see the record as an extension as the Rutles [a Beatles parody band featuring Monty Python alumnus Eric Idle]. But I can see [a parallel]. If you've heard the same version as I did, it's John with an acoustic guitar and Yoko just banging away with a spoon -- and a mad, uptempo chorus.

Q. Sometimes music seems to change over time. Has "Trains" changed and grown? Or have you?

A. It would be nice to think that the record snuck off and mutated while you weren't looking. But likely the record stayed the same and I got older.

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Robyn Hitchcock plays at 7 p.m. and 10 p.m. Saturday at the Old Town School of Folk Music. Tickets are $31-$35; 773-728-6000.